News Scanner

Saturday December 3

Apple’s car plans have long been kept under wrap by the company itself, but a new regulatory filing shows it publicly address the industry for the time. In a letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) uncovered by VentureBeat, Apple urges the government not to restrict testing of self-driving vehicles…

Sony closed out its PlayStation Experience keynote with the first trailer for The Last of Us: Part II, the sequel to Naughty Dog's breakout 2013 shooter. The stars of the original game, Joel and Ellie, return in Part II, older and apparently filled w...

There's a new Uncharted. Well, a new story chapter at least. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, from the looks of it, is a lot like The Last of Us: Left Behind. Meaning, it's a standalone story that fleshes out characters from the main game in a new way. Th...

Have you been suffering from Wipeout withdrawal symptoms since getting a PS4? You can relax. Sony has revealed that Wipeout Omega Collection is coming to the PS4 with remastered versions of three games (or two, depending on your point of view): Wipeo...

In this week’s top stories: We go hands-on with AT&T’s new DirecTV Now streaming service, more iPhone 8 reports arrive alongside news of an upcoming iPad refresh, we show you how to check if your iPhone 6s is eligible for a battery replacement, and much more.

A politician in Paris has proposed that a street in the city be named after the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jerome Coumet, a member of the Socialist Party and mayor of the 13th district in Paris, suggested that four lanes surrounding the Halle Freyssinet area be named after Steve Jobs (via Le Bonbon).

Zero-emissions cars are popping up left and right, but motorcycle design has been a little late to the game. Yet, all-electric motorcycles and are zooming down the streets in increasing numbers. With varying engine sizes, charging times and driving r...

The ExoMars mission will live on despite the Schiaparelli's lander unfortunate mishap. At a meeting in Switzerland, European Space Agency's member countries have agreed to set aside €436 million ($464 million) to make ExoMars 2020 a reality. Tha...

Today on In Case You Missed It: NASA and HeroX are asking for help from the public to try to create a bathroom that can be used for up to six days, inside space suits. Previously astronauts have worn diapers during missions in space suits, but tha...

Bluetooth audio --?especially when exercising --?has always been "good enough," but never great. Apple's W1 chip in its latest headphones lineup changes that, and the proprietary wireless technology steals the show in its new sports-focused Powerbeats3 headphones.

On the campaign trail last year, President-elect Donald Trump said he would consider requiring Muslim-Americans to register with a government database. While he has back-stepped on a number of campaign promises after being elected president, Trump and his transition team have recently resurfaced the idea to create a national Muslim registry. In response, The Intercept contacted nine of the "most prominent" technology companies in the United States "to ask if they would sell their services to help create a national Muslim registry." Twitter was the only company that responded with "No." The Intercept reports: Even on a purely hypothetical basis, such a project would provide American technology companies an easy line to draw in the sand -- pushing back against any effort to track individuals purely (or essentially) on the basis of their religious beliefs doesn't take much in the way of courage or conviction, even by the thin standards of corporate America. We'd also be remiss in...

December's here, and that means the holidays have kicked into overdrive as companies everywhere hope that it's their gear you'll be giving. Google, however, has made the curious decision to ignore one of its more successful...

Apple’s vice president of special projects Paul Deneve has disappeared from the Apple executive bios page on Apple’s website. Deneve joined Apple in 2013 after serving as chief executive officer at fashion brand Saint Laurent. His removal from the biography signifies a change in management structure; Deneve now reports to Apple COO Jeff Williams rather than Tim Cook directly.

News settled down this week post-Thanksgiving, but there were still developments involving next year's OLED-equipped "iPhone 8," and hints about where Apple is going with its Maps app and future health hardware.

This past week for Apple was all about fixing stuff, whether it’s your iMac, your Calendar, or, if you’re in China, your iPhone 6s. While you’re waiting for your repairs to happen, check out the important Apple headlines from the past week in this slideshow. Click on the link to get more information.

Friday December 2

In perhaps the most public admission of its automotive ambitions, Apple in a statement issued to the NHTSA in November proposed an update to existing policy that would grant industry newcomers the same opportunities as established manufacturers when it comes to testing on public roads.

NBA fans in the US will get their first chance to check out a live game in 4K Ultra HD on Saturday night when the Utah Jazz visit the Denver Nuggets. The broadcast will be available via DirecTV if you have the proper package and equipment (Genie HR54...

An undetermined number of 2016 MacBook Pro models are suffering from disturbing graphical rendering issues, with owners reporting full screen artifacts, screen tearing, flashing, random "glitches" and even system crashes. The issue, however, is related to overzealous third-party software and is not indicative of a critical hardware flaw.

Microsoft is keen on making sure people with disabilities can use their products, and next year it's only going to expand upon that directive. It starts with some big additions to Windows 10 and Narrator for the Creators Update like support for brail...

New submitter npslider writes: The "USB Killer," a USB stick that fries almost everything that it is plugged into, has been mass produced -- available online for about $50. Ars Technica first wrote about this diabolical device that looks like a fairly humdrum memory stick a year ago. From the report: "The USB Killer is shockingly simple in its operation. As soon as you plug it in, a DC-to-DC converter starts drawing power from the host system and storing electricity in its bank of capacitors (the square-shaped components). When the capacitors reach a potential of -220V, the device dumps all of that electricity into the USB data lines, most likely frying whatever is on the other end. If the host doesn't just roll over and die, the USB stick does the charge-discharge process again and again until it sizzles. Since the USB Killer has gone on sale, it has been used to fry laptops (including an old ThinkPad and a brand new MacBook Pro), an Xbox One, the new Google Pixel phone, and some...

The proliferation of fake news on its network has haunted Facebook since the presidential election. Initially downplaying its impact, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has come around to start speaking on the social platform's action plan, including cutting off ad...

In April, President Obama officially formed the The Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity to examine the country's electronic vulnerabilities in the wake of high-profile hacks like that of the Office of Personnel Management in 2015. Today th...

Adds the option to use the active tab as the Default Sender. ($24.95 new, free update, 21.3 MB)

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Moving large amounts of electronically stored data is both difficult and time consuming. Current internet technology limits how quickly data can be transferred using the internet. While a few pictures on your phone can be uploaded in seconds, backing...

Refracta is a somewhat obscure Linux distribution that offers exceptional functionality and stability. Obscurity is not always a bad thing when it comes to Linux distros. You can find some very worthwhile alternatives to your current operating system. Refracta is a big surprise in a small package. Many look-alike desktop distros are difficult to distinguish from run-of-the-mill garden varieties. Others offer new adopters something unique that makes using them fun and productive.

A Taiwanese Foxconn manager faces a stiff prison sentence after he stole 5,700 iPhones from his employer, and went to sell them for $1.56 million. The Next Web reports: Foxconn is a tech manufacturing giant. It makes a lot of things, including laptops for HP, phones for Apple, games consoles for Sony, and its workers so depressed it has to install suicide nets. The Taiwanese manager at the center of this crime -- known only by his family name, Tsai -- worked in the testing department at Foxconn's factory in Shenzhen, mainland China. According to Taiwanese prosecutors, Tsai ordered eight of his subordinates to smuggle out thousands of iPhones which were used by the company for testing and quality assurance purposes. These were destined to be scrapped after use. The stolen iPhones (mostly iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s models) made their way to stores in Shenzhen, and went on to make Tsai and his accomplices nearly $1.56 million USD (Tw$50 million). Tsai has since been charged with breach of...

A pair of Republican congressmen, both of whom sit on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, contacted NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on Tuesday, requesting more information from the space administration about a recent report suppor...

I have been interested in the Voynich Manuscript since I first heard of it in high school. I am nowhere near smart enough to get involved in its deciphering community but the idea of what it is and what it represents fascinates me.

This feels like yet another example of how such an arguably great service like Twitter seems to not have any idea of itself. Twitter seems to succeed in spite of the executives running it, not because of them.

Apple reportedly has assembled a group of robotics and data-collection experts who will use drones to obtain data for updates to its Maps app. Apple, Google and others in the cartography space currently collect a lot of their data using motor vehicles equipped with high-tech gear.
"That's a very expensive and time-consuming process," said Sam Abuelsamid, a senior research analyst at Navigant Research. "Doing it with drones provides the potential to gather the same kind of data in a much more cost-effective manner and do it more rapidly."

Apple has released an update to the Apple Store app, adding the ability for users to purchase accessories directly from their Apple Watch, as well as support for iOS 10 rich notifications. The Apple Watch app doesn’t yet provide access to the full Apple Store catalog, so users will be limited to purchasing accessories that they’ve already marked as favorites from the iOS app or Apple Store web page, and will need to pay using Apple Pay.…

In May Apple hired robotics expert Yoky Matsuoka to work on health projects. However, she’s already left the company, according to Bloomberg, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” No reason was given for her departure.

On a regular basis, Apple World Today posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are today's picks.

macOS Apps/Updates

AirBeamTV has rolled out Mirror for Philips TV 1.3.2, the latest in a family of screen mirroring apps for mac OS.

The latest update provides a way to mirror you Mac screen to your Philips Smart TV without cables or additional hardware. The application works on any Philips Smart TV from the 2012 models onward.

Mirror for Philips TV requires macOS 10.10 or later. It costs $9.99 and is available worldwide through the Mac App Store. Users who would like to test Mirror for Philips TV to see if their TV is supported and their local network is fast enough, can download a...

Back in November of last year, Apple confirmed plans to build a new stunning waterfront flagship retail store on the Chicago River. At the time a few renders of Apple’s plans for the location were floating around courtesy of architect Foster + Partners, which Apple has worked with on several projects including the design of the company’s Spaceship campus, as well as the redesign for London’s Regent Street store. But Apple has rapidly made progress on demolition of the existing site and construction on the new store in recent weeks, as evidenced by these photos sent in by a reader (Thanks Tim King!).

More than 1 million Google accounts have been breached by Android malware dubbed "Gooligan," Check Point reported Wednesday. The malware roots infected devices and steals authentication tokens that can be used to access data from various Google apps including Gmail, Google Docs, G Suite and Google Drive. It potentially affects devices running Android 4 and 5. Devices are infected when their users download infected apps or click on poisoned links, Check Point said.

An executive hired to lead teams responsible for HealthKit, CareKit, and ResearchKit -- as well as related machine learning algorithms -- has left Apple after just a few months on the job, a report said on Friday.

As Chance noted last night, an alpha version of BetterTouchTool was released yesterday with support for the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar. Being an alpha release, you can expect to find bugs, but I decided to go hands-on with the update to see how the Touch Bar implementation worked.

What I found was a seriously impressive tool that will allow users to have a ridiculous amount of fine-grained control at their fingertips. Have a look at our brief video walkthrough inside to see the customizable Touch Bar controls in action. more…

You can now make purchases from the Apple Store with just a few taps on your wrist. The latest version of the Apple Store app for Apple Watch lets you actually purchase accessories that you’ve favorited from your account.

Griffin’s Pencil Sleeve ($30) is a silicone sleeve for Apple Pencil. The non-slip sleeve fits snuggly around the Apple Pencil, and its triangular design prevents Pencil from rolling around. Pencil Sleeve also comes with a built-in cap, which essentially acts as a replacement for the easy-to-lose Pencil cap. Also, the sleeve’s cap has its own multi-touch compatible stylus tip on the end, adding extra functionality to Pencil. The sleeve…

A problem with iPhone 6s products randomly shutting down comes from a battery flaw found in a small number of models, according to Apple.

After a Chinese consumer watchdog group reported the issue, Apple is offering a fix free of charge to any eligible iPhone 6s user through its customer support sites.

On Friday, Apple explained on its Chinese site that the problem was found in iPhone 6s devices containing a faulty battery component. This component was “exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have” before it was assembled into the battery packs, Apple said.

As a die-hard Simpsons fan, I have been really excited about FXXs 600 episode marathon but I think I vastly underestimated the stamina it was going to take to get through thirteen days worth of the longest-running animated series ever. And I've seen...

Apple's Activation Lock feature, introduced in iOS 7 in 2013, deters thieves by associating your iPhone and iPad with your Apple ID. Even if a thief steals your device, puts it into Recovery Mode, and completely resets it, the phone or tablet won't work without the original user's Apple ID and password. This makes stolen iDevices less valuable since they become more difficult to resell, and it has significantly reduced iPhone theft in major cities.

The feature has been difficult to crack, but a new exploit disclosed by ...

Two researchers claim to have found a way to bypass the activation lock feature in iOS that’s supposed to prevent anyone from using an iPhone or iPad marked as lost by its owner.

The first report came Sunday from an Indian security researcher named Hemanth Joseph, who started investigating possible bypasses after being confronted with a locked iPad he acquired from eBay.

The activation lock gets enabled automatically when users turn on the Find My iPhone feature via iCloud. It links the device to their Apple IDs and prevents anyone else from accessing the device without entering the associated password.

One of the few things allowed from the activation lock screen is connecting the device to a Wi-Fi network, including manually configuring one. Hemanth had the idea of trying to crash the service that enforces the lock screen by entering very long strings of characters in the WPA2-Enterprise username and password fields.

They apparently didn’t get the message about not naming cord-free earbuds with a singular naming scheme, so this new product from Bragi is awkwardly named, “The Headphone.” But branding aside, these earbuds have made quite an improvement over the company’s first-generation product called “The Dash,” which was one of the first to hit the market a year ago.

My biggest complaint when testing The Dash was half-baked fitness features, unnecessary built-in storage, and sloppy touch controls that cluttered what could have been an otherwise decent cord-free earbud experience. The Headphone fixes a lot of those issues (mostly by simply removing the problematic features), and what you end up with is a basic but less expensive cord-free earbud that actually works well enough for everyday use. They’re also one of the first cord-free earbuds worth considering before the launch of...

Apple has released a fifth beta of iOS 10.2 to developers today, focused primarily on resolving issues with the new TV app expected to debut later this month. Notably, this latest beta release does not appear to be accompanied by corresponding tvOS or watchOS beta updates....

Apple has released iOS 10.2 beta 5 for developers — the second iOS 10.2 beta released this week. iOS 10.2 includes several upcoming features like new Unicode 9.0 emoji, three new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus wallpapers, a new TV app, additional camera features, new Messages screen effects, and more.

Investigators have warned consumers they face potentially fatal risks after 99% of fake Apple chargers failed a basic safety test. From a report on BBC: Trading Standards, which commissioned the checks, said counterfeit electrical goods bought online were an "unknown entity." Of 400 counterfeit chargers, only three were found to have enough insulation to protect against electric shocks. It comes as Apple has complained of a "flood" of fakes being sold on Amazon. Apple revealed in October that it was suing a third-party vendor, which it said was putting customers "at risk" by selling power adapters masquerading as those sold by the Californian tech firm.

According to their online store, some of Apple’s newest products including the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and certain models of the iPhone 7 Plus may not arrive — or will cut it close to arriving — in time for Christmas… more…

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

In a statement on its Chinese language website, Apple has revealed the source of the battery problem that has been causing iPhone 6s devices to shut down unexpectedly when the battery reaches 30 percent. “We found that a small number of iPhone 6s devices made in September and October 2015 contained a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs,”…

Secrets is now Free on the App Store! Secrets is a simple, secure password manager for Mac and iOS. It leverages industry standard encryption algorithms to provide secure storage and macOS and iOS native features to facilitate automatic filling of logins in the browser.

Version 2.0 is the culmination of months of testing in the real world. Bugs have been squashed, important features have been added and polish has been applied throughout. With this new version you can use Secrets and all of its features for Free with up to 10 items.

School’s in session, which means kids need rides. Mike Matthews shares details about an app that can help parents team up to spread the driving duties.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Part of a full backup plan for your Apple devices includes making sure that all of your iPhones and iPads are fully backed up each and every day. Apple makes this simple in iOS through iCloud Backup, but it's very easy -- especially with multiple devices -- to run out of iCloud space and need to upgrade your storage plan. iDrive provides online backups for any type of device (including Macs) and with this Apple World Today deal, you can get a lifetime of unlimited mobile backups for just $25.

A simple iOS app connects your iPhones, iPads or Android devices to iDrive. Choose to back up everything -- including photos -- or select just those items that are critical to you.

A little-known fact about the new 2016 MacBook Pros is that Apple changed the default screen resolution configuration. With a fresh install of the operating system, I noticed that my new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar uses a scaled screen resolution that does not 1:1 map to the display’s native 2880×1800 resolution.

This setting is called ‘Looks like 1680×1050’ and offers more space at the expense of some blurriness, most noticeable on text. For the best Retina quality, you need to dig into the settings, although this will mean sacrificing some screen real estate. See a comparison, and how to change these options, after the jump …

When my iPhone 6s started shutting down earlier this month even though it still had 20 percent or 30 percent battery life showing, I suspected maybe it was just getting too cold. After all, I’ve seen my iPhones be temperature sensitive in the past.

But it turns out that the problem really stemmed from a bug in version 10.1 or 10.1.1 of Apple iOS, and now Apple is offering free battery replacement by those affected. The weird thing that those of us affected by this have experienced is that after charging the phone back in, it almost immediately turns back on, back at its 20 percent or 30 percent battery level.

A commissioned report of 400 fake Apple chargers bought from all over the world found that 99 percent of them were unsafe, and didn't have sufficient safeguards to protect users and plugged-in devices.

The full product name of iHome's new iZBT10 Zenergy Bedside Sleep Therapy Speaker ($100) explains its main aim: a bedroom speaker meant to be a sleep machine. But that's not all, as iHome has packed the speaker with features, hoping for it to become a jack-of-all-trades speaker — at least as far as the bedroom goes. On top of its alarm clock and sleep machine abilities, iZBT10 allows for Bluetooth playback, a full array of lighting options — the speaker offers light therapy in addition to sound therapy — FM radio, and a 2.5A charging port, as well. While there are a number of on-speaker controls, iZBT10 reaches its full potential with the use of iHome's Zenergy app, which allows users to quickly access all of the speaker's features.{/exp:char_limit}...

When we featured the Kinkoo 3 outlet/4 USB port surge protecting power strip in the Apple World Today Deals Shop a few weeks ago, little did we know just how popular it would be! So many of our readers ended up purchasing these very useful power strips that we've brought it back for any of you who missed the deal.

One of the unexpected benefits of the incredible advances made in both sensors and microprocessors is that drones have become both inexpensive and powerful. The SKEYE Nano 2 first-person video (FPV) drone is a tiny drone that uses your iPhone and an included controller to zip around and take video from unique vantage points.

The SKEYE weighs just 17 grams, and the compact size makes it perfect for capturing travel video that you'd never be able to grab otherwise. Some other features of the SKEYE include:

Reddit has announced reforms designed to crack down on trolls and punish the most abusive members of its community. Reddit has identified hundreds of the most "toxic users," said CEO Steve Huffman, and it has devised a plan to take action against them. Consequence for unacceptable behavior could range from warnings to timeouts to permanent bans. Reddit's latest move serendipitously mirrors the current plotline of Comedy Central's hit animated series South Park, which depicts Internet trolls as having become a serious global issue.

Photo: BBC Investigators have found that 99 percent of fake Apple chargers sold online failed a basic safety test, the BBC reports. Safety specialists UL tested 400 counterfeit chargers bought from 8 countries—including the U.S., China and Australia—and found that only three had enough insulation to guard against electric shocks. Trading Standards, the group that commissioned the study, warned buyers to be wary of chargers that don’t…

Press your thumb on the left bezel (the black framing on the left side of the front of the phone) and press.

As you press, the force touch will reveal just a bit of the stack of apps you are running. Press with a bit more force, and that view will go full screen, as if you had double pressed the home button.

Not sure when this feature first came out, but it seems little enough known that I thought this was worth a post.

I wish Apple would let me switch over to the right side. I also wish I could assign this specific force touch to other aspects of the iOS interface.

For example, imagine if I could use that gesture to undo the last autocorrect, no matter the app. You’d be typing along and notice that iOS changed a word to, say, ducking. Not what you wanted. So you give a quick force touch and your original word is automatically put back in place, without your...

Several major Chinese smartphone vendors are forming a consortium with a supplier to invest in AMOLED production in 2017, mainly out of worries that Apple will end up monopolizing panel supplies with upcoming iPhones, according to reports.

NetEase Cloud Music, which makes the most popular online music app in China, has launched Mac 1.5, a new edition of its app, which can be downloaded and used by a wide range of Chinese Mac users.

The upgrade supports the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. It’s the first Chinese online music product to do so. Via the Touch Bar, users of the Mac 1.5 edition have direct control over the features available within each of NetEase Cloud Music's four modes: Single Songs, Personal FM, Radio Programs and Music Videos. The Touch Bar also allows access to subscriptions and bookmarking.

Trading Standards, which commissioned the checks, said counterfeit electrical goods bought online were an “unknown entity”. Of 400 counterfeit chargers, only three were found to have enough insulation to protect against electric shocks.

It comes as Apple has complained of a “flood” of fakes being sold on Amazon.

The article offers more details but, more importantly, gives some tips on how to detect a counterfeit charger. I also worry about the possibility of a bogus charger being used as a malware injection device.

For Friday’s iLounge Deal, you can get the Kinkoo 3-Outlet Surge Protecting Smart Power Strip for only $24.99 — that’s 28% off the regular price. This travel-friendly power strip has three standard AC outlets, three USB ports and one USB-C port so that you can charge a wide range of devices, and at only eight inches long, it’s portable enough to pack up with you and take it on the road. Get the Kinkoo 3-Outlet Surge Protecting…

Dan Moren has been doing some traveling. Currently in India, he writes about his experiences living on the road with Apple tech.

For example:

I’ve found Apple Maps to be virtually useless in India. Yes, I can get a map overview or satellite imagery, but directions and transit information are nonexistent. Building databases of all that information is challenging, to be sure, and it often means working with a lot of partners. But not being able to get simple walking directions to a nearby restaurant is kind of a nonstarter, so I’ve been using Google Maps, which works much better.

Everyone’s starting to use drones for mapping these days and Apple is apparently no exception.

The company plans to use drones and new indoor navigation features to improve its Maps service and catch longtime leader Google, according to sources close to the story.

The Cupertino, California-based company is assembling a team of robotics and data-collection experts that will use drones to capture and update map information faster than its existing fleet of camera-and-sensor ladened minivans, one of the sources said.

Apple seems to want to fly things around to map things like street signs, track changes to roads and monitor if areas are under construction, the source said. The data collected would be sent to Apple teams that rapidly update the Maps app to...

OWC has introduced the new OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini, an “ultra-portable” dual-drive RAID solution. It boasts speeds up to 738MB/s, capacities up to 4TB, and user-configurable options for RAID 0, RAID 1, spanning, and independent drive modes.

The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini was designed for professionals in music production, video production, and photography, and for anyone who needs the convenience of portable storage without sacrificing production-grade performance. It's among the first in its class to offer the USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C interface, which supports transfer rates up to 10Gb/s, according to OWC CEO Larry O’Connor. Additionally, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini is bus-power capable, so there's no need to be tied to a power outlet.

Network Inventory Advisor is a network inventory solution that was around for Windows systems for some time before coming to the Mac. But it is now available for macOS — and it's free for up to 10 Macs that you wish to scan.

Network Inventory Advisor finds and scans remote Macs via Bonjour, by IP or network names — or by just probing a IP-addresses range. There's no need for additional databases or Java servers. Network Inventory Advisor for Mac works with Mac OS X 10.6 or higher and requires remote login to be enabled on target nodes and your network admin password to build reports on every piece of Mac hardware and software on the net.

Run Network Inventory Advisor and it collects all details about software and hardware present on the other Macs in your network. The software lets you easily track all the inventory data about remote Macs and report all information you need...

A former senior manager at Foxconn has been charged with stealing and selling 5,700 iPhones for a total of around $1.5M, reports AsiaOne.

The Taiwanese manager, identified by his family name Tsai, worked in the testing department and instructed eight employees at Foxconn’s factory in the southern mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen to smuggle out about thousands of iPhone5 and iPhone5s, prosecutors said.

While you have to wonder what kind of security would allow thefts on such a massive scale to go initially undetected, the piece does contain one clue …

Apple recently released the first MacBook Pro redesign since 2012, and in typical Apple fashion, there's been some controversy over the new machines. People are talking about are the lack of legacy ports, and the need for adapters to use current devices and accessories. With so many Macbook Pro users waiting for this redesign, AppleInsider takes a closer look and compares the new 15-inch model to the old to see if you should upgrade to the 2016 model, or stick with 2015's version.

Just Mobile says its $49.95 AluCharge is the world's slimmest USB charger. I’ll take their word for it because at just 0.72 inches thick, it’s is barely taller than an USB port. Still, it can charge up to four devices simultaneously (however, you’ll have to provide your own Lightning cables).

This makes it a great traveling companion if, like me, you often need to charge and iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch while on the road. Thanks to its “intelligent” charging, it delivers the right amount of power to iOS, watchOS and even Android gadgets. It provides 2.4A max per port.

The AluCharge is finished in unibody aluminum, so looks good with Apple devices. It incorporates just the four USB ports on the front and the socket for the power supply to the wall on its backside. As I said, it’s functional, sleek, and slim (though the power outlet cord is almost as big as the charger itself...

Analysts appear to be piling in on Apple, with a second firm questioning ‘strategic issues’ within the company.

Just a couple of days after UBS said that it was ‘unclear’ whether Apple had the same strategic approach it had under Steve Jobs’ leadership, Oppenheimer has predicted that the company is in for a ‘decade-long malaise’ …

A large-scale test of 400 fake Apple chargers bought online from eight different countries – including the USA – found that a staggering 99% failed safety tests.

The BBC reports that the tests were commissioned by UK consumer protection body Chartered Trading Standards Institute, which found that of the 400 chargers purchased online, just three had sufficient insulation to protect against electric shocks in the most basic safety test performed. The CTSI urged consumers to buy only from reputable suppliers …

I’ve always been fascinated by how long computer equipment can run without needing to be rebooted. I current have one very old PC running Windows 2000 (circa 1999) that has not been rebooted in over 700 days or about two years that is doing some small tasks.

With my previous iPhone (6 Plus,128GB) the most I could go without restarting the iPhone was about 12 days. At that point my iPhone would start to showing anomalies, including being unable to even answer the phone. It almost always happened at 12 days.

The limit I had seen on my wife’s iPhone 6s Plus was 57 days, at which point there was an iOS update. I think much of the difference is how hard I push the phone and test new software, whereas she mainly just uses her phone, and many hours a day during work she does not even check it.

I now have the iPhone 7 Plus/ 256GB model and was interested in how long this iPhone could go without a reboot before any anomalies showed up. I figured with the 3GB of ram the...

Adds support for the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro. ($49.99 new, free update, 13.9 MB)

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Software Updates via MacUpdate

EtreCheck 3.1.5 - For troubleshooting yo...

EtreCheck is an app that displays the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to... Read more

WALTR 2 2.0.8 - $39.95

WALTR 2 helps you wirelessly drag-and-drop any music, ringtones, videos, PDF, and ePub files onto your iPhone, iPad, or iPod without iTunes. It is the second major version of Softorino's critically-... Read more

Carbon Copy Cloner 4.1.12 - Easy-to-use...

Carbon Copy Cloner backups are better than ordinary backups. Suppose the unthinkable happens while you're under deadline to finish a project: your Mac is unresponsive and all you hear is an ominous,... Read more

Dropbox 16.3.27 - Cloud backup and synch...

Dropbox is an application that creates a special Finder folder that automatically syncs online and between your computers. It allows you to both backup files and keep them up-to-date between systems... Read more

Microsoft OneNote 15.29 - Free digital n...

OneNote is your very own digital notebook. With OneNote, you can capture that flash of genius, that moment of inspiration, or that list of errands that's too important to forget. Whether you're at... Read more

Spotify 1.0.44.100. - Stream music, crea...

Spotify is a streaming music service that gives you on-demand access to millions of songs. Whether you like driving rock, silky R&B, or grandiose classical music, Spotify's massive catalogue puts... Read more

SpamSieve 2.9.27 - Robust spam filter fo...

SpamSieve is a robust spam filter for major email clients that uses powerful Bayesian spam filtering.
SpamSieve understands what your spam looks like in order to block it all, but also learns what... Read more

VueScan 9.5.62 - Scanner software with a...

VueScan is a scanning program that works with most high-quality flatbed and film scanners to produce scans that have excellent color fidelity and color balance. VueScan is easy to use, and has... Read more

Fantastical 2.3.2 - Create calendar even...

Fantastical 2 is the Mac calendar you'll actually enjoy using. Creating an event with Fantastical is quick, easy, and fun:
Open Fantastical with a single click or keystroke
Type in your event... Read more

PCalc 4.4.4 - Full-featured scientific c...

PCalc is a full-featured, scriptable scientific calculator with support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations, as well as an RPN mode, programmable functions, and an extensive set of unit... Read more

Latest Forum Discussions

Christmas is fast approaching and that means it's time to prepare for Santa's yearly pilgrimage around the globe. Christmas Eve is an exciting time as parents help their kids get ready to welcome Santa. You've got the cookies and milk all planned... | Read more »

Galaxy on Fire 3 and four other fantasti...

Galaxy on Fire 3 - Manticore brings the series back for another round of daring space battles. It's familiar territory for folks who are familiar with the franchise. If you've beaten the game and are looking to broaden your horizons, might we... | Read more »

The best apps for your holiday gift exch...

What's that, you say? You still haven't started your holiday shopping? Don't beat yourself up over it -- a lot of people have been putting it off, too. It's become easier and easier to procrastinate gift shopping thanks to a number of apps that... | Read more »

MyTona, based in the chilly Siberian city of Yakutsk, has brought a little festive fun to its hidden object game Seekers Notes: Hidden Mystery. The Christmas update introduces some new inhabitants to players, and with them a chance to win plenty of... | Read more »

PINE GROVE 1.0
Device: iOS Universal
Category: Games
Price: $1.99, Version: 1.0 (iTunes)
Description:
A pine grove where there are no footsteps of people due to continuous missing cases. The case is still unsolved and nothing has... | Read more »

Niantic teases new Pokémon announcement...

After rumors started swirling yesterday, it turns out there is an official Pokémon GO update on its way. We’ll find out what’s in store for us and our growing Pokémon collections tomorrow during the Starbucks event, but Niantic will be revealing... | Read more »

3 reasons why Nicki Minaj: The Empire is...

Nicki Minaj is as business-savvy as she is musically talented and she’s proved that by launching her own game. Designed by Glu, purveyors of other fine celebrity games like cult favorite Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Nicki Minaj: The Empire launched... | Read more »

Clash of Clans is getting its own animat...

Riding on its unending wave of fame and success, Clash of Clans is getting an animated web series based on its Clash-A-Rama animated shorts.As opposed to the current shorts' 60 second run time, the new and improved Clash-A-Rama will be comprised of... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Never Settle for Low Performing Wifi With iOS...

AppYogi Software has announced the release of WiFi Signal Strength Status App 1.0, the company’s new utility developed exclusively for macOS. WiFi Signal Strength Status App features a unique, single... Read more

DietSensor, Inc., a developer of smart food and nutrition applications designed to fight diabetes and obesity and help improve overall fitness, has announced the launch of its DietSensor app for... Read more

Best Buy has dropped their price on the 64GB Apple TV to $159.99 including free shipping. That’s $40 off MSRP.
32GB Apple TVs are on sale right now for $98 on Sams Club’s online store. That’s $51 off... Read more

12-inch Retina MacBooks, Apple refurbished, n...

Apple has restocked a full line of Certified Refurbished 2016 12″ Retina MacBooks, now available for $200-$260 off MSRP. Refurbished 2015 models are available starting at $929. Apple will include a... Read more

Apple has Certified Refurbished 13″ MacBook Airs available starting at $849. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each MacBook, and shipping is free:
- 13″ 1.6GHz/8GB/128GB MacBook Air: $849 $... Read more

Apple refurbished iMacs available for up to $...

Apple has Certified Refurbished 2015 21″ & 27″ iMacs available for up to $350 off MSRP. Apple’s one-year warranty is standard, and shipping is free. The following models are available:
- 21″ 3.... Read more

MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation. Xplain, "The journal of Apple technology", Apple Expo, Explain It, MacDev, MacDev-1, THINK Reference, NetProfessional, Apple Expo, MacTech Central, MacTech Domains, MacNews, MacForge, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks or service marks of Xplain Corporation. Sprocket is a registered trademark of eSprocket Corporation. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing or software remain the property of their respective holders. Not responsible for typographical errors.

All contents are Copyright 1984-2011 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.